Process of and apparatus for tinning sheet metal



(No Model.)

- s. Y. 1311011111111. PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS'FOR TINNING SHEET METAL.110.451,261. Patented 11pr.28,1891.

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WIT/VESSE y i Olaf@ SAMUEL Y. BUOKMAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR TINNING SHEET METAL.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,261, dated April28, 1891.

Application led April 25, 1890. Serial No. 349,528. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL Y. BUCKMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Method of andApparatus for Coating Sheet Metal with Tin and Alloys Thereof, whichimprovement is fully set forth in the following specification andaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in the method of and apparatus forcoating sheet metal with tin and alloys thereof; and it consists, first,of the method herein described of uniting the ends of sheet-metalplates.

It further consists of the apparatus or plant hereinafter described forcoating or tinning sheet metal.

Figure l represents a vertical section of 'a plantor apparatus forcarrying on the method herein described of coating sheet metal asembodied in my invention. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the acidbath,cleansingboxes, and drying-furnace. Figs. 3 and 4 representvertical transverse sectional views, on an enlarged scale, ofafelt-covered roller for drying and an asbestus-covered rollerforburnishing the sheet. Fig. 5 represents a sectional View of twoplates of sheet metal hooked or secured together preparatory to beingcleansed and coated.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a vessel or trough in which isprepared an acid bath, the said trough havinga number of rollers Bjournaled in the sides thereof, and between which the sheet metal passesduring its advance through the bath. Adjacent to one end of the trough Aand between the same and the scrubbing and cleansing box O are thefeed-rollers D D. The said cleansing-box O has slots E E in its sides,through which the sheet metal is drawn, and wit-hin the box, near oneend and above the said slots, are the rotary brushes E F, journaled inthe side walls of the box and provided with any suitable gearing forrevolving them in opposite directions and in the directions of thearrowsZZ, so as to keep the fine gravel or sand fed through a chute G betweenthem and the upper side of the sheet. In the other end of the box andAon the under side of the sheet are journaled two rotary brushes H H,which also revolve in opposite directions and for the same purpose asthe brushes F F, except that these vbrushes scour the under side of theplate. Vithin a chambered portion J of the box through which the sheetis passed and above and below the slots in the sides of the box areperforated pipes K forspraying both sides of the sheet. An outlet orwaste pipe L leads from the said chamber J. Adjacent to the end of thechamber J are the feed-rollers J J having a coating or covering ofasbestus or felt for removing the surplus water before thersheet ispassed to the oven.

Adjacent to and in line with the cleansingbox is a drying-oven M,wherein the sheet is guided on suitable supports. any suitableconstruction and heated for drying the sheet in any suitable manner.

N designates a guide-wheel suitably supported and over which the metalsheet trav-` els. Below the guide-wheel N, as shown in the drawings, butwhich, so far as the method is concerned, may be in the same plane asthe acid bath, cleansing boX, and drying-oven, is a vessel P, adapted tocontain a sal-ammoniac bath for the purpose of forming a iiux on thesheet previous to its being inserted into the dipping-pot. Q designatesguidingwheels in the said vessel P, under and around which the sheet ispassed to and over the guiding-wheels R and R.

The twin-pot furnace S has a suitable support of masonry, andlisprovided with a melting-pot T and a dipping-pot U, each of the said potshaving a fire-chamber with grate underneath the same, and thefire-chamber of the melting-pot being on one side of the dipping-pot U,so that the said side receives heat from the tire-chamber of the pot Uin addition to the heat received from its own firechamber, and isthereby heated to a higher temperature than the other side of the pot.The two pots are connected by a channel or passage V, through which themolten tin or alloy thereof flows from the melting to the dipping pot.

lVithin the dipping-pot, which has inner and outer walls of U-shapedform, are the guiding-rollers WV, under which the sheet is passed, andin the upper portion of the exit- This oven is of IOO limb are theadjustable squeezing-rollers H ll for regulating the thickness of thecoating.

Above the twin-pot furnace is a chilling and burnishing chamber X,having a revolving fan Y for cooling the coated sheet as it leaves thedipping-pot.

Z designates rotary brushes with an asbestns or felt covering adapted tocontact with the coated sheet and burnish the same. The gui ;le-whee1s AB conduct the coated plate into and from the said chilling andburnishing chamber to a roller C', suitablyjournaled in a support orbearing D and receiving rotary motion by means of a band E, connectedwith a pulley F on a rotary shaft G.

The various brushes, feed-wheels, fans, and shafts ieceive motion from acommon driving-shaft by any of the usual connecting mechanisms; but assuch mechanisms per se form no part of this invention the same are notshown in the drawings nor described herein.

In carrying out my method a number of sheets of ordinary metal plate arefastened together by bending and hooking the adjacent ends, firstbrushing or painting the contact portions of the folded ends with apaste formed of resin and grease mixed with a powder of the samecomposition as the metal coating which is to be applied. The plates thusforni a continuous sheet, and the latter is then drawn through thevessel A, which is about thirty feet in length, and in which ispreparedavitriol or other similar bath for the purpose of loosening thescales on the surface thereof, the sheet being reliably held in the bathduring its progress through the vessel by means of the guide-rollerstherein. After leaving the bath the sheet is passed into the box C,where a mixture of fine gravel or sand and water is supplied through thechute G to the rotary brushes F F, which revolve in opposite directions,so as to have their strain or tension on the sheet neutralized or de`stroyed and also to keep the gravel or sand a greater time between themfor scouring the sheet, thus requiring a less supply ofthe same. Thebrushes H I-I on the under side of the sheet are also rotated inopposite directions for the same reasons as the brushes F F are sorotated, as was described. The sheet is next drawn into the chamber J,where water is sprayed against both sides of the same from theperforated pipes K, so as to clear the sheet of any sand as well as ofall loose particles of metal which might be thereon. From thespraying-chamber the sheet is passed between the two feed-rollers J J',the asbestus covering of which removes the surplus moisture from thesheet before its passage into the oven M, where it is thoroughly dried.Leaving the oven, if the coating is to be an alloy of lead and tin orspelter,the sheetis passed into the vessel P, containing sal-ammoniac ormu riatic or other acid, for the purpose of aiding in forming a fluxthereon. 1f the coating is to be of other metal, the sheet is passeddirect to the dipping-pot without being treated toa salammoniac bath,where it enters one limb, passing downward into a grease bath on top ofthe melted coating-metal, then into the melted coating metal, whichlatter enters the dippingpot U from the meltingpot T through the channelV. The sheet is then passed through the dipping-pot U undertherollerstherein and upward through the other limb thereof and through aclean grease bath on top of the metal in the said limb, where it issqueezed between the rollers ll H, so that the proper thickness ofcoating is obtained. lt will be noticed that Ithe metal in the limbwhere the sheet enters the pot is at a higher temperature than inthelimb from which it leaves the same, so that it adheresto the sheetmore readily on leaving the pot than on entering the same. On enteringthe chilling-chamber the sheet is subject to the action of the revolvingfan, so that it is rapidly cooled or chilled, and it then passes betweenthe burnishingrollersZ,\vhichhaveacoveringof mineral wool or asbestus,by means of which a smooth and polished surface is given to the sheet,which is then passed over the guiderollers R and R and down to andaround a rotary drum or roller C', so as to form a roll thereon. Two ormore rotary drums G,snit ably journaled, maybe employed, so that when aroll of a required size is formed the sheet can readily be cut orseparated therefrom and wound on a second roller, when the first rollcan be removed from its roller, so that the apparatus need not bestopped while removing the roll.

All the different parts of the plantor apparatus maybe placed on thesame plane or iioor, if desired, or may be on different iioors, theessential feature being that they are in such positions as to perform acontinuous operation, as described. v

The scourin g device and twin pots described herein do not form, per se,a part of this application, being fully described, illustrated, andclaimed in separate applications forLetters Patent duly tiled Septemberll, 1890, Serial No. 364,689, and August 30, i890, Serial No. 363,498.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In tinning sheet metal, the process which consists in coating thecontact-faces of the hooked ends of the plates with a fusible metallicpowder and passing the plates thus joined successively through a tinningbath, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The method of coating sheet-metal plates, consisting in uniting theends of the plates an d coating 4the contact-faces of the said ends witha fusible metallic powder, passing the sheet thus formed through an acidbath, then scouring, spraying, and drying them, and then passing thesheet through a dipping-pot and squeezing-rollers, substantially asdescribed.

'lhc method of coating sheet-metal plates, consisting in firstconnecting the ends of the IOO IIO

plates and coating the contact-faces of the said ends with fusiblemetallic powder, passing the sheet thus formed through an acid bath,then scouring, spraying, and drying it Without turning it, and thenpassing the cleansed sheet. into a dipping-pot, then squeezing, andnally cooling and burnishing the coated sheet, substantially asdescribed.

at. The method of coating sheet-metal plates, consisting in iirstconnecting the ends of the plates and coating the contact-faces of thesaid ends with a fusible metallic powder, passing the sheet thus formedthrough an acid bath, then scouring, spraying, and drying it on bothsides Without turning` it, then passing the cleansed sheetinto adipping-pot containing the melted coating, and then after passing thecoated sheet between squeezingrollers cooling and burnishing it,substantially as described.

5. The method of preiiaring coated sheetmetal plates, consisting iniirst connecting the ends of the plates and coating the contactfaces ofthe said ends With a fusible metallic powder, cleansing and drying thesheet thus formed on both sides,simultaneously heating on both sides ot'the path of travel of thev sheet, drying-rollers between which the sheetis passed, a drying-oven, guide-pulleys, aseoond bath, a dipping-potwith entrance and exit limbs on opposite sides, cooling and burnishingdevices, feed-rollers at and between said different devices, andmechanism connected with and operating said rollers, Wherebya uniformand simultaneous motion is imparted to the same, said parts beingcombined substantially as described.

SAMUEL Y. BUCKMAN.

Witnesses:

J oHN A. WIEDERSHEIM, WM. C. WIEDERSHEIM.

